Discrimination between poultry eggs on the basis of some observable quality is a well-known and long-used practice in the poultry industry. “Candling” is a common name for one such technique, a term which has its roots in the original practice of inspecting an egg using the light from a candle. Eggs that are to be hatched are typically candled during embryonic development to identify live and non-live eggs. It is a common practice to separate non-live eggs from live eggs to increase available incubator space, to reduce the risk of contamination, and to save vaccine costs related to in ovo inoculations.
Conventionally, eggs designated as non-live may be removed either by hand or via an automated egg removal device such as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,668 to DePauw et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,375 to Hebrank. Automated egg removal devices may employ suction-type lifting devices as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,063 to Hebrank, U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,003 to Keromnes et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,083,208 to Ilich. The poultry industry is constantly looking for improved ways of removing eggs from carriers that are efficient, that reduce costs, and that reduce the risk of contamination to live eggs.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an egg removal apparatus capable of efficiently removing eggs from egg carriers in a manner that allows for the removed eggs to be collected in an automated fashion. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide an associated method that would remove and collect eggs from egg carriers in an automated and efficient manner.